A fiftieth anniversary edition of the trailblazing women's reference shares anecdotes and interviews that were originally collected in the early 1960s to inspire women to develop their intellectual capabilities and reclaim lives beyond period conventions.

Originally published 1963.

Introduction by Gail Collins -- Preface and acknowledgments -- The problem that has no name -- The happy housewife heroine -- The crisis in woman's identity -- The passionate journey -- The sexual solipsism of sigmund freud -- The functional freeze, the feminine protest, and margaret mead -- The sex-directed educators -- The mistaken choice -- The sexual sell -- Housewifery expands to fill the time available -- The sex-seekers -- Progressive dehumanization : the comfortable concentration camp -- The forfeited self -- A new life plan for women -- Epilogue -- Afterword by anna quindlen -- Thinking back and to the future -- Metamorphosis : two generations later -- Introduction to the tenth anniversary edition -- Notes -- Index -- Reading group guide.